2 CORINTHIANS

Larry Kreitzer

Sheffield Academic Press

For Dave

κοινωνὸς ἐμός

(2 Cor. 8:23)

From that first fateful day in our high school English literature class (when we were assigned a common desk based on the alphabetical closeness of our names) until now, he has been a fellow traveller on the pathway of faith despite all the twists and turns we have each encountered in the road. I am privileged to own him as my friend, and fortunate to be claimed as such by him.

Copyright © 1996 Sheffield Academic Press

Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
Mansion House
19 Kingfield Road
Sheffield S11 9AS
England

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library

ISBN 1-85075-789-5

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

Suggestions for Reading

1. Paul and the Founding of the Church at Corinth

2. The Integrity of 2 Corinthians and its Place in the Corinthian Correspondence

3. The Apostolic Ministry of Paul

4. Moses, Glory and the New Covenant

5. Identifying the Corinthian Opponents: A Problem in Detection

6. Paul and the Jerusalem Collection

7. Some Puzzling Passages

8. The Challenge of 2 Corinthians for the Modern World

Commentaries and Studies on 2 Corinthians

Index of References

Index of Authors

Preface

It is commonly remarked that in 2 Corinthians Paul is at his most self-revealing. This is true enough, but paradoxically 2 Corinthians is also the place where Paul is at his most enigmatic. To attempt an interpretation of the letter is to enter a hermeneutical minefield; a host of interlocking problems face the reader from the outset and it is difficult to find any place where a single step may be safely taken. It seems as if every assumption one makes about the nature of the letter, as well as the ideas and events recorded within it (or is it them?), is open to serious question from any number of directions. So many of the exegetical decisions that one makes when trying to understand the meaning of a given text are absolutely at the mercy of a host of other decisions which have to be made about other key texts; and it comes as no surprise to discover that the interpreter of each of those texts is often in search of some degree of assurance, some fixed point of certainty, by looking over his or her shoulder at the passage with which one is wrestling. 2 Corinthians quickly becomes a complex web of interconnected problems which tax the ability of anyone to fathom them completely. If ever there was a claim for a New Testament document being described as ‘the Gordian knot’ of scholarship, it is 2 Corinthians! Yet a critical study of the epistle offers an immense number of opportunities, for some of the issues raised by the letter lie at the heart not only of Pauline thought but of New Testament scholarship generally.

For the past few years some brave and courageous students have ventured to ‘walk the minefield’ with me by attending my lectures on ‘The Corinthian Correspondence’ within the University ...